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Episode 245: Listener Emails Like You Wouldn’t Believe
Date July 17, 2013 Summary Ben and Sam answer listener emails about knuckleballers, batting practice, crazy Coors Field seasons, Bryce Harper’s hair, and more. Topics * Knuckleball hypothetical * Batting practice and pitcher usage * Offensive production per inning * Batter/pitcher matchups * Bryce Harper's hair * Coors Field extreme seasons Intro George Carlin standup sound clip Email Questions * Matt: "Let's say the knuckleball was in some way solved. Something about grip or delivery was figured out that made it relatively easy to throw a pretty hard to hit knuckler. Given you could throw a baseball 80-something MPH, to me this seems plausible but even if it's not just go with it. What percentage of pitchers would have to become knuckleballers before it would be banned? How would the rule be written? I have to think there would be a breaking point for knucklers whereas there would not be for any other pitch." * Will (Brooklyn, NY): "Watching the home run derby made me think about the idea of batting practice and question whether pre-game BP is actually batting practice. Those pitches resemble nothing that a batter will see in a game. While understanding that it's a warm up there are lots of ways to warm up and get loose. Why not warm up against something that even resembles MLB pitching? What is the benefit of smashing a 50 mph fluff ball before the game?...Have actual pitchers throw BP to hitters. Whether it's warm up fastball down the middle or pitchers that batter knows are coming, pitchers are going to throw those pitches anyway and it seems mutually beneficial to both the hitter and the pitcher to throw them to each other. You could even just use your worst bullpen arm." * Justin (Kansas City): "It seems that in almost every James Shields' start he gets crushed in the first inning and then settles in and does much better for the next 4-5 innings. I would assume this is a fairly common pattern that starting pitchers give up a larger percentage of walks, hits, and runs in the first inning. This made me wonder if there are certain innings in which teams score more runs. Perhaps in the 1st when the starter is settling in and then maybe in the 5th or 6th when it's more likely that the worst relievers are pitching and certainly less in the 8th or 9th when strong relievers are pitching. What do the numbers say? Does this actually happen?" * Steve submitted to Drew Magary: "Let's say that, for an entire season, a player somehow faced the exact same pitcher for every at bat. Like 600 at bats, same pitcher. Let's say it's a league-average batter and a league-average starter. Would that hitter get a huge advantage as the season went on? Would the pitcher? Would neither get an advantage, and things would pretty much work out normally?" * Stephen: "Do either of you know what product Bryce Harper uses because it's really humid out and that's some serious lift." * Isaac: "I was surfing around Baseball Reference recently and came across Brian Bohanon's 1999 season in Coors Field. Bohanon made 33 starts, threw almost 200 innings, and had an ERA of 6.20. Amazingly, his ERA+ was 94 and he racked up 3.1 WAR. I decided this probably my favorite late 90s Rockies season ever. It's the type of season that even with an understanding of park effects and adjusting for era, my brain just can't understand. That being said, I thought I'd ask you guys what your favorite Coors Field season was." Notes * League-wide OPS is .759 in the 1st inning, and .761 in the 4th inning, when the top of the lineup is up. OPS is .694 and .667 in the 8th and 9th, respectively. * Sam thinks that hitters would quickly gain an advantage over pitchers, but he and Ben think the advantage would plateau relatively quickly. * Bryce Harper uses a pomade called Suavecito. * Ben's favorite Coor's season is Dante Bichette in 1999. Sam's is Jeff Cirillo's 2000 season. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 245: Listener Emails Like You Wouldn’t Believe * Batting Practice: Cherished Tradition or Colossal Waste of Time? by David Waldstein * What Kind of Snob Is The Worst Kind of Snob? by Drew Magary Category:Email Episodes Category:Episodes